**********
DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is copyrighted 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi. All except the characters I created belong
to her. I'm just borrowing them for awhile :-) Any
and all problems with this can be directed to the
University of Alabama administration. It's their fault
I had a chance to get addicted to the series to begin
with!
*********
SENSHI IN COLLEGE: EPISODE 12 - Usagi?s Desperation.
Foreshadows of an approaching destiny.
*********
"Moon Eternal...Make-UP!"
Usagi thrusted her brooch in the air, and it opened
to reveal the ginzuishou. But, it did not sparkle. She
closed her eyes and waited for the pulsating waves of
energy to wash over her that would change her into Eternal
Sailor Moon.
But nothing happened.
Usagi lowered her brooch and gazed at it. "Why?" she
whispered in a low voice. "Why can?t I transform? Why are
you doing this to me again, ginzuishou?"
Suddenly, she heard a clicking sound in front of her
and Usagi looked up to see Misora standing before her,
youma at her side. The older woman pointed at her. "Get
Sailor Moon?s hopeful soul!" she yelled.
"No!" Usagi screamed. "Leave me alone!"
**********
Mamoru shot up in bed and looked around, hearing
Usagi?s voice in his mind as clearly as if she had been
standing in the same room with him. He looked around and
saw that room was dark. Debris still littered the floor
from where the battle with Misora had taken place just
three days before. He shrugged and laid back down. His
eyes focused on the ceiling, which boasted several new
cracks in it. So much for the security deposit, he
thought, his gaze focused on a piece of plaster dangling
from the ceiling.
For the past two days, he had been looking through
the newspaper for a new apartment. A larger apartment, one
with two bedrooms. Houses were out of the picture, they
were both still in school. He frowned, thinking about the
money in the bank. The money that had always seemed to be
there since he turned 18 and was able to flee from the
orphanage. No matter how much the cost of living was,
there always seemed to be enough, if not extra. No amount
of tracking on his part seemed to be able to trace where
the money came from.
However, not long after his 18th birthday, Mamoru had
met Usagi and fighting with Sailor Moon and the other
Sailor Senshi caused him to abandon his search for where
his source of income came from. He held odd jobs during
the summer because he knew he should save money for the day
when this mysterious trust fund would run out. But all of
that money was still in a savings account at the bank. It
had never been used.
He knew he should try looking for this mysterious
benefactor again. He yawned and closed his eyes. He
needed to tell Usagi about it. She once asked him how he
was able to survive without working a lot, but he had
shrugged and given her a vague answer. Yes, she deserved
to know, and they could go looking for this benefactor
together.
A vision of Usagi facing off against Misora, brooch
clutched in her hand, filled his mind. Mamoru shot up in
bed again, knowing this time it was the real thing. He
reached over on the nightstand and grabbed a gold pocket
watch off it. He gazed down at it, wondering if it would
work for him again. He nodded. It had to. He threw back
the covers, jumped out of bed, and ran out of the room.
**********
"NO!!!!!!"
"Usagi?" Chibi-Usa threw open Usagi?s bedroom door to
see her tossing around in bed, holding her brooch in her
hand. Chibi-Usa ran over to the bed and tried grabbing
hold of her shoulders. "Usagi, wake up!" she cried.
"Usagi-chan!" Luna jumped up on the bed. She swatted
her paws in Usagi?s face, knowing that had worked before.
However, this time Usagi did not respond, and she kept
screaming.
"Luna, what?s wrong?" Chibi-Usa yelled to Luna over
the deafening noise that now echoed through the entire
house.
"She?s caught in the middle of some weird dream,"
Luna hollered back. "We can?t get her out of it!"
The balcony door opened and Tuxedo Kamen dropped into
the room. He surveyed the area quickly for youma and
instead saw his future daughter trying to get his future
wife to stop screaming. Chibi-Usa looked over at Mamoru
gratefully.
"Mamo-chan, she won?t wake up!" she cried, her voice
bordering on desperation.
Usagi closed her eyes, preparing for her hopeful soul
to be stripped from her.
"Usako, wake up!" She could hear Mamoru?s voice in
the distance calling to her. She reached out and vainly
searched for him.
"Mamo-chan! Help me!" she screamed. "Rei-chan!
Ami-chan! Mako-chan! Minako-chan!"
"Usagi!" Chibi-Usa?s equally worried voice echoed in
the room.
Usagi whirled around, expecting to find Sailor Chibi
Moon somewhere in the battle ground. "Chibi-Usa!" she
cried just as her world went black.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Two fuzzy blue circles
and two fuzzy cinnamon circles were staring at her. She
blinked several times until they came into focus, and she
realized they were Mamoru and Chibi-Usa?s eyes. She looked
around and realized Mamoru, now detransformed, was holding
her in a sitting position in his lap and Chibi-Usa stood by
her bed. Luna sat on the edge of the bed. In the doorway,
Shingo stood holding Chibi Chibi in his arms. He had been
helping to take care of her because Ikuko was still in Sobe
with her brother. The little girl was the only one still
asleep.
"Are you okay, onee-san?" Shingo asked in a low
voice.
"It was a dream?" Usagi asked, still feeling
disoriented. She looked at Mamoru for confirmation and he
nodded. She relaxed against him, allowing him to comfort
her as he stroked her back. She sighed, feeling exhausted
from the experience she had gone through in the dream.
"What happened, Usagi?" Chibi-Usa asked.
"I don?t know. Misora and a youma were trying to
attack me, so I tried to transform. But, my brooch
wouldn?t work. It was like back when the Death Busters
first came, before I received my power-up."
"But, you can still transform, right?" Shingo asked.
The young man leaned against the doorway, adjusting the
little girl in his arms. He admitted there was much to his
sister?s secret life that he did not know about, but this
clearly worried her.
"I don?t know," Usagi admitted.
"Why don?t you try it," Luna urged her.
Usagi nodded to her and got up. She reached on her
nightstand for her brooch and held it up in the air. "Moon
Eternal...Make-UP!"
Moments later, Eternal Sailor Moon stood before them.
Moon smiled in relief and touched her brooch. She
detransformed and sat on the bed next Mamoru, who put his
arm around her. She smiled at him. Shingo yawned and left
the room with Chibi Chibi, muttering he would put her back
in her bed.
Chibi-Usa yawned as well and went back to her own
bedroom. In the doorway, she turned around and looked at
Usagi and Mamoru sitting on the bed together. She frowned,
remembering Tuxedo Kamen?s entrance. He had not been
wearing a hat and his tuxedo looked vaguely different. She
shrugged and left the room.
Usagi laid back down on the bed and yawned.
"Arigato, Mamo-chan," she said. "How did you know I was
having a bad dream?"
He stood up and stared down at her, all sorts of
thoughts crowding into his mind. He simply leaned over and
kissed her on the forehead and smiled. "Let?s just say for
now it was a connection," he commented, then walked over to
the bedroom door. He flipped off the light on his way out,
deciding to leave the house like a normal man. "Oyasumi
nasai, Usako."
Usagi watched her bedroom door close and groaned.
She turned onto her stomach. "We?re engaged to be married
and he kisses me on the forehead," she muttered. "Some
romantic he makes."
Meanwhile, Mamoru reached the front door of the
Tsukino house when he heard his name being called. He
turned around to see Luna sitting at the bottom of the
steps. A mischievious twinkle glittered in the cat?s eyes.
"Mamoru-san, you looked, didn?t you?" Luna said.
"Looked at what?" Mamoru stared at the cat.
"Usagi-chan. When she transformed."
Blush stained his cheeks and he turned toward the
door, trying to remember how to turn the knob. "I plead
the Fifth," he commented.
"Nice try, except we don?t operate under the United
States Consititution in Tokyo," Luna said.
"Oh hush," Mamoru said, finally remembering how to
turn the knob and left the house. He started whistling as
he walked down the sidewalk to his car. Oh, Luna would
kill him if she knew of his real reaction to whenever he
got lucky enough to see Usagi's henshin. He couldn't keep
the grin off his face as he got into the car and drove back
to his apartment.
**********
"What do you mean you haven?t seen her in three
days?" Hino?s eyes narrowed across his desk at Moreno.
"She takes the kontsu and disappears off the face of the
earth! You?re her brother! Fine her now!"
"Hai, certainly," Moreno muttered, turning on his
heel and walking out of the room. His heart thundered in
his chest after the thirty minutes of yelling Hino had
done. The man had grown cold and ruthless, and he doubted
his sister would survive if she returned to Hino. Her
recent failures coupled with her disappearance meant that
her life was suddenly expendable in Hino?s eyes.
Moreno walked back in the laboratory and closed the
door behind him. He looked over at a table where Misora
had worked before he joined the team. He walked over to
the table and opened the one drawer in it and pulled out a
framed photograph of a pregnant Misora standing in front of
a handsome man with sandy blond hair. He stared at the
photograph for a moment, then felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around to see Hino pointing a copy of the kontsu,
which Moreno had just finished, at him. Before he could
say anything, Hino shot him.
Moreno crumpled to the ground, faint traces of a
hopeful soul glittering in the air. Hino switched the mode
on the kontsu to vacumn and sucked in the hopeful soul. He
removed the vial from the gun and tucked it into the pocket
of his coat. He looked on the table and picked up a needle
filled with a grey liquid and knelt down next to Moreno?s
unconcious body. Hino quickly stuck the needle in Moreno?s
arm, then stood back up.
"Just as I figured, enough of a hopeful soul to have
him think about turning away from me," Hino commented to
himself. "I must have him under my complete control." He
tossed away the used needle and picked up the photograph of
Misora that Moreno had been holding. He gazed her for a
moment, then scowled. "You are of no further use to me,"
he said, then tossed the picture against the wall. The
glass shattered as the photograph hit the wall, then fell
to the floor.
**********
Michiru knocked on the door to Setsuna?s room. She
waited a moment, then pushed open the door, which was
already ajar. The aqua-haired woman gasped when she saw
the mess of papers on every surface of the room and Setsuna
asleep at her computer desk. She approached the desk,
stopping to move the papers at the end of Setsuna?s bed to
reveal a folded blanket. She took the blanket and gently
draped it over Setsuna?s shoulders.
Michiru looked up to see that Setsuna was connected
to the Internet. She picked up a sheet of paper off the
printer and scanned it briefly. She frowned at the
heading. Mirakuru Full Moon, she read. What is this?
Setsuna stirred at that moment. She opened her eyes
and sat up, rubbing the back of her neck as she did so.
She turned her attention back to the computer, shutting off
the Internet. She then stood up and stretched.
"Setsuna, what?s going on?" Michiru asked, holding up
the paper.
Setsuna yawned and moved over to her dresser, kicking
aside papers strewn on the floor as she did so. She opened
one of the drawers and pulled out some clothing. She
glanced up at Michiru.
"Part of my job as senshi of time is to make sure the
timeline flows smoothly. Some job. Queen Serenity
mentioning something about it being hard, but I didn?t
realize the timeline would constantly be tampered with by
villians, fights between lovers, and cute pink-haired
little girls. The thing is that I can?t tell the people
involved what to do, but I can sure nudge them in the right
direction."
"I take it that this has to do with the Princess and
the Prince," Michiru said.
"But of course. 99.9% of things that go wrong with
the timeline have to do with the Prince and Princess. The
other 1 billion people on this planet take up the remaining
0.01%," Setsuna shrugged. "Sometimes, I feel I need an
assistant." Or a good, stiff drink, she thought to
herself.
Michiru chuckled. "So what does this Mirakuru Full
Moon have to do with them?"
"Well, if the prince and princess aren?t nudged in
the right direction by October 15th, then the lives of the
Sailor Senshi will be changed forever," Setsuna said.
"Damnit, I had to stand by and watch the Black Moon nearly
take over the 20th and 30th centuries and all sorts of
mayhem. I?m tired of being the passive senshi."
"But won?t this bother with the timeline?" Michiru
asked.
"Not if I do it right," Setsuna said. "I?m going to
take a shower."
Michiru watched Setsuna walk into the bathroom and
pondered for a moment over the odd behavior of the senshi
of time. Poor Setsuna, she thought. She really does need
a break.
**********
Moreno looked down into his communicator. He stood
on the Quad at Azabu University, students milling around
him on the large park-like area. It had been less than 24
hours since his meeting with Hino, about four hours after
he woke up on the laboratory floor not remembering how he
got there.
"Do you have your instructions?" Hino?s voice came
over the communicator.
"Hai," Moreno said, then shut off the communicator.
In his office, Hino leaned back in his chair and gazed at
the ceiling. To prove Moreno?s worth after getting rid of
what remained of his hopeful soul, Hino decided to send him
out as a distraction to the Sailor Senshi.
He gazed around the area, looking for a good object
to use as a youma. He didn?t care about making sure the
job was done at this point, something inside him said he
needed to find Misora and fast. A sinking feeling in his
heart told him that if Hino reached her before he did, then
she would not live long. However, something inside him was
controlling him to the point where he had to do this.
Moreno frowned. It was as if he was losing control over
his mind.
He glanced up into a tree and saw a nest of baby
birds. The branch they were on was low enough for him to
reach up and get the nest without disturbing the birds. He
knelt on the ground, placing the nest before him. Then, he
slipped his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a vial
with a purple liquid in it.
Moreno opened it and poured the contents of the vial
on top of the baby birds and jumped back to see them grow
to huge proportions. He stepped back and nodded. "Go!" he
yelled. "Find and distract the Sailor Senshi anyway
possible!"
The two birds now looked like ten foot tall
disfigured eagles. Their yellow beaks were twisted in such
a way that it looked like it would be impossible to open
them. Still, they stretched their massive wings and
screeched out their answer to his command, causing a strong
breeze and many students on the Quad to look their way and
gawk. Hino simply watched as the birds soared into the
air. Moreno turned and headed toward the street. He had
to find his sister as fast as he could...before Hino could.
**********
Makoto gazed at the circle of cherry blossom trees
surrounding the bell tower. There were no blossoms on the
trees now, the September breeze blowing the browning leaves
off the tree. The senshi of nature squinted to see a young
plant, still green, struggling to grow against the odds.
"Poor thing," Makoto muttered out loud, approaching
the tree and moving aside the branches to reveal the young
plant on the end of a branch. She looked around for a
moment, then wrapped her hand around the branch and closed
her eyes. A green glow lit up her hand and spread to the
plant. Moments later, the plant opened into a fully-
bloomed cherry blossom.
Makoto released the branch and stepped back. The
other branches of the tree covered the one blossom, but she
knew it was still there. Makoto knew she shouldn?t had
tried her powers in public like she did, but something in
her heart sympathized with the young plant.
"It?s like me," she said to herself in a whisper, her
emerald eyes filled with longing. "I want to grow and
blossom, just like that plant. But...but I can?t." Tears
filled her eyes, and she hastily rubbed them away with the
sleeve of her blouse. She was Kino Makoto! One of the
strongest of the Sailor Senshi. She was not suppose to cry
or feel sorry for herself.
An eerie feeling washed over Makoto. She suddenly
glanced up in the sky to see a huge object coming toward
her. She gasped when she saw the object was actually a
huge, deformed bird, screaming "Tori! Tori!" at the top of
its lungs. The wind caused from its massive wings nearly
blew Makoto off her feet. Several feathers dropped from
its dingy brown coat, landing several feet away from her.
Makoto ducked between two of the cherry blossom trees
and pushed her blouse sleeve up to reveal her communicator.
She hit the all-call button.
"Minna! There?s a youma attack on the Quad!" she
said, reaching in her pocket with her free hand to grab her
henshin brooch.
"We?re on the way!" Rei?s voice answered back.
"Do you need me?" Ami?s voice sounded over the link
as well.
"Not yet, just keep an eye on us...," Makoto?s words
were cut short as something propelled into her hand and
knocked her brooch out of it. It landed on the ground
about several feet away from her. Makoto glanced down at
her hand and screamed when she noticed that the youma?s
weapon of choice was huge bird droppings.
"Mako-chan?" Ami?s voice sounded over the
communicator, but another round of droppings hit Makoto?s
wrist, cutting off the communication.
"Shimatta," Makoto muttered, backing away from the
youma and pulling her handkerchief out of her pocket as
best as she could without messing up her clothes. She
wiped her hands and wrist clean and tossed the cloth away.
The youma screamed out again and Makoto looked up to
see it heading straight toward her. She backed up and
looked around to see she was trapped. The bell tower was
behind her, and there was no cover other than the cherry
blossom trees. She didn?t want to risk hurting them
either.
Makoto closed her eyes and prepared for the youma to
overwhelm her.
"MERCURY AQUA MIRAGE!"
Makoto?s eyes flew open in time to see a blast of
water send the youma into the bell tower and dissolve. She
looked up to see Sailor Mercury standing near the cherry
blossom trees
"Sailor Mercury!" Makoto cried in surprise. "What?re
you doing here?"
"I could sense you were in trouble," Ami said.
"Rei-chan and Minako-chan are fighting another youma near Azabu
Sandwhiches and Snacks. There?s two more, but I?m not sure
where they are. They?re probably probably near the
library."
"Have you found Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked.
Ami shook her head. "She has her communicator
turned off."
Makoto groaned, then ran over to her brooch and
picked it up. She wiped it off on her skirt and sighed.
Her clothes were ruined anyhow. She transformed and the
two ran to assist Mars and Venus.
**********
"What?s going on?" Usagi asked, sitting next to
Mamoru on the picnic blanket. He had unexpectedly shown up
after her chemistry class, saying they needed to have a
talk. The two now sat under a tree near the middle of the
Quad. It was something they had always talked about doing,
but never did anything about. A picnic lunch from Azabu
Sandwiches and Snacks was spread out before them, but
neither of them touched it.
"Well, while you were gone, I had taken Chibi Chibi
out to lunch when...," Mamoru started to explain, but
before he could get very far, a cheerful voice sang out to
them.
"Usagi! Mamo-chan!" Chibi-Usa said, skipping down
the path with her valise in hand. Behind her, Chibi Chibi
toddled down the path as well. Chibi-Usa reached the
picnic and dropped down to her knees. She grabbed the
nearest plate, one full of chips, and began eating.
"Chibi-Usa!" Usagi cried. "We?re suppose to be on a
private picnic!"
"In the most public area of Azabu University.
Right." Chibi-Usa picked up and sandwich and handed it to
Chibi Chibi.
"What happened to school anyhow?" Usagi gave into a
childish impulse and snatched the last sandwich off the
plate before Chibi-Usa could help herself to it.
"Give that back!" Chibi-Usa cried.
"It?s not yours!"
Chibi Chibi ran over and snatched the sandwich out of
Usagi?s hand. "Mine!" she cried with pride before
consuming it in about two seconds.
While the girls were fighting, Mamoru?s attention had
shifted to the sky. Something did not feel right, he
realized. But, he had been feeling very strange ever since
he gained the power of the Golden Crystal. It was like he
had been blind for all of his life, then miracolous, was
able to see. He was a fully-grown man, yet a toddler
trying to take in everything at once.
Usagi would be the first to tell him about something
like this, but he hadn?t said anything to her because he
needed time to come to terms with it for himself. Usagi
would probably laugh and say it was just like him to sit
and analyize something out before bothering to talk about
it. Still, it was something he needed to do in order to
come to terms about the changes in his life.
Usagi?s communicator started beeping. The girls
immediately stopped fighting and started at it. Makoto?s
voice came over it, frantically telling them about a youma
attack on the Quad. They jumped to their feet immediately.
"We need to transform!" Usagi said, looking around
for a place to hide. The four of them were sitting in the
middle of the Quad with no trees nearby to shield them.
"Let?s head for the trees over there," Mamoru pointed
toward the center of the Quad.
Chibi-Usa stared into the sky, shielding her eyes
from the sun with her left hand. With her right, she
pointed to something in the air. "What?s that?" she asked.
Everyone else gazed into the sky to see two very
large birds soaring toward them.
"What are those?" Usagi asked, using her hand to
shield her eyes from the sun as well.
"Tori! Tori!" Chibi Chibi chanted.
"Awful big birds, ne?" Chibi-Usa commented.
Suddenly, the Tori-sans nosedived toward the four
standing around the picnic blanket.
"Run!" Usagi and Chibi-Usa screamed. Mamoru grabbed
Chibi Chibi in his arms and the three took off as fast as
they could in the opposite direction from where the birds
were flying.
"Girls!" Mamoru yelled as they sped down the Quad
toward the library. "Henshin quickly when we reach the
library!" All of them had to duck a sudden flurry of bird
droppings, some of which got on Chibi-Usa's school uniform.
"ICK!" The girl slid to a stop, and held out her
skirt. "Ikuko-momma is going to be mad at this!"
"Come on!" Usagi and Mamoru both reached out, and
pulled Chibi-Usa to safety in the shadows of the library
steps, which they had managed to reach.
Chibi-Usa grinned sheepishly, then grabbed her
brooch. Usagi grabbed hers as well, and the girls nodded to
each other.
"Moon Crisis...Make-UP!"
"Moon Eternal...Make-UP"
Nothing happened.
"Nani???" All of three of them shouted. "Chibi
Chibi?" the littlest asked.
Usagi stared at Chibi-Usa, trying her hardest not to
panic. She had been able to transform the night before.
What happened? The dream where she had been attacked by
the youma replayed in her mind.
"What do we do?" Chibi-Usa asked Usagi, fear in her
voice.
Usagi put her arm around Chibi-Usa's shoulders, and
drew herself to her full height. "Don't worry,
everything's going to be alright."
"You've got to help them," Elios's voice suddenly
rang in Mamoru's head. "Henshin quickly."
As if she was reading Mamoru?s mind, Chibi Chibi
gazed up at him. "Henshin yo," she told.
"Mamo-chan?" Usagi stared at him oddly. Why would
Chibi Chibi tell him to henshin, she thought. What is
going on here? Chibi-Usa stared at him as well.
Mamoru slowly withdrew his watch from his pocket, and
stared at it for a moment, as if still not quite sure of
the power it contained. Despite transforming the night
before, the events that took place in his apartment a few
days before seemed like a vague dream. Then, he pressed a
button on the side, and it opened up, and he held it in the
air.
"Mamo-chan...," Usagi said in disbelief. Chibi-Usa's
eyes grew huge.
A sudden bright flash of light filled the area. The
girls watched in amazement as he transformed before their
eyes.
It was almost like one of their transformations.
When it was finished, he stood before them in his new
outfit, which still felt pretty uncomfortable to him. In
his right hand, he held a staff. The top of it looked like
the top of Setsuna's staff, but with the Golden Crystal
softly glowing from it instead of the Garnet Orb.
Usagi and Chibi-Usa simply stared at him in shock.
Oh...Kami-sama...he was naked, was the only coherent
thought Usagi managed to put together out of all the
confusion in her mind.
Before he could explain anything, the Tori-sans
shrieked in unison, and came flying toward them. Both of
the girls screamed, and Usagi grabbed Chibi Chibi and tried
to shield both her and Chibi-Usa with her body. Tuxedo
Kamen turned to the youma, and pointed his staff at it.
His eyes narrowed in concentration and the Golden Crystal
began to glow. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from it
and killed the youma.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" Usagi and Chibi-Usa cried out in
glee.
Usagi ran to him, and grabbed his arm. "Mamo-chan,
when did this happen?"
"I'll explain later," he told her, as another youma
came flying toward them. He grabbed Usagi, pushed her
behind him, and deflected the attack with his staff. He
tried to draw up enough energy to repeat the attack, but
found he was too weak to do so. He stumbled as the lack of
energy threatened to overwhelm him.
Usagi grabbed his hand. "Mamo-chan, daijobu?"
Mamoru squeezed her hand comfortingly. "I'm okay,
Usako. You and Chibi-Usa need to go find safety."
Usagi shook her head. "Iie, I'm not going to leave
you!"
Chibi-Usa ran around and grabbed his other arm. "I'm
not leaving you either!"
"Chibi Chibi!" Chibi Chibi ran and attached herself
to his leg for a moment. Then she let go, and stood in
front of the three, giving them all long looks.
Usagi reached over and put her other arm around
Chibi-Usa. "We're your family," she said in a mature
voice, reminding Chibi-Usa of Neo-Queen Serenity. "We're
going to be by your side no matter what happens."
Suddenly, both Usagi and Chibi-Usa began to glow.
They reached down until Usagi was holding hands with
Chibi-Usa and Mamoru, Chibi-Usa was holding hands with her
parents, and he was holding hands with both of them.
Suddenly, the Golden Crystal began to glow, and Mamoru
felt an incredible wave of power wash through him. It
started from somewhere within his body, and swept through
his arms into his hands, and from there the glow around
Usagi and Chibi-Usa brightened. Suddenly, both girls were
engulfed in a flash of golden light, and when it died down,
they wore new fukus.
Sailor Chibi Moon's fuku was just like the other
Sailor Star uniforms, except her skirt was layered with
several shades of pink. Her red ribbon in the front of
her uniform changed into a light pink one to match the
longer one in back. In her hand, she held a smaller
version of the Eternal Tier.
Sailor Moon's fuku was her eternal fuku, but the
wings were transparent instead of feathered. Her skirt was
layered with white and silver instead of many different
colors, and did not stick out like they were full of
starch. Her ball-shaped sleeves were now transparent with
a silver glow instead of pink. In her hand was her Eternal
Tier, the one she had lost in the fight against Galaxia.
They all gazed at each other in shock for a moment at
the unexpected transformation. Chibi-Usa immediately let
go of their hands, and suddenly started her attack on the
final bird youma flying around them.
"PINK LADY'S" She bowed her head in a prayer for a
moment, then glared at the youma with a determined look in
her eyes. "FREEZING..." She twirled around on her toes in a
circle. "KISS!" She aimed the rod at the youma, and a beam
of pink energy shot out from it, stunning the youma. It
quickly fell to the ground.
"Now, Sailor Moon!" Mamoru yelled, trying to hold
himself up with his staff. She grew blurry before his eyes
as a wave of exhaustion nearly overtook him.
"Hai!" Usagi raised her tier and pointed it at the
youma. Before she could say anything, the head of the tier
began to glow and rainbow-colored rays shot out of it. The
youma screamed, then blew apart into dust.
"We did it! Nani?" Usagi and Chibi-Usa cheered, then
gasped as they powered back down, and detransformed into
their normal clothing.
"It's only temporary?" Chibi-Usa asked.
"It looks that way for now," Usagi said.
"Usako..."
The girls whirled around to see Tuxedo Kamen lose his
fight with exhaustion. He slumped to the ground,
detransforming as he did so. He landed face first into the
grass, his watch landing beside them.
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi and Chibi-Usa raced to his side,
and knelt down on the ground next to him. Usagi gently
turned him over to his back, and wiped the dirt off his
face with her hand. She cradled his head in her lap, and
tried to wake him up. "Mamo-chan, daijobu??"
He opened his eyes, felt for her hand, and squeezed
it lightly. "I'm okay," he whispered to her, before
lasping into unconsciousness. However, within moments, the
prince of the Earth slipped from unconsciousness into
a deep, restorative sleep.
**********
Usagi pulled the bedroom door shut, and faced the
gathered senshi. "He's still sleeping," she said.
"Arigato, Haruka-san and Mako-chan, for helping me get him
home."
"Might want to suggest to him to lay off the curry,"
Haruka teased her. She frowned when that failed to bring a
smile to Usagi?s face, or even a remark in his defense.
Instead, Usagi looked much older than her age, and
extremely worried.
"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" Makoto asked Ami,
who was using her laptop to configure information.
"He's drained from using the power of the Golden
Crystal," Ami explained. "He's never been used to wielding
so much power before. It's like with Usagi and the
ginzuishou. If he uses all of the power at once, then he
could..."
"Ami-chan," Michiru laid a hand on Ami's shoulder to
stop her talking, noticing how Usagi's face suddenly lost
all of its color.
Ami looked up from her computer, and gave Usagi a
sympathetic look. "Gomen nasai, Usagi-chan, but..."
"I need to know," she said in a whisper.
Makoto draped an arm around Usagi's shoulders. "He's
going to be all right."
"But, he can't power you up forever."
Everyone stared at the doorway, where a new figure
stood. The outers immediately sprang to their feet.
"Setsuna-san!" the inners cried.
Setsuna walked in the room, over to Usagi, and laid a
hand on her shoulder. "We need to talk. You, me, and
Mamoru-san."
"Doushite?" Usagi asked, looking extremely confused.
"Trust me, we need to talk," Setsuna dropped her hand
from her shoulder, opened the bedroom door, and moved
inside. Usagi quickly followed her. The inners all sprang
up, and Chibi-Usa ran to the door to follow Usagi in.
Hotaru grabbed her arm, and stopped her.
"Not now, Chibi-Usa-chan," Hotaru told her. "It does
not concern you."
Chibi-Usa gazed at her best friend, then at the
bedroom door. Please, let Poppa be okay, she prayed in her
mind.
**********
"There are things in this world I know of, things I
am forbidden to tell you," Setsuna started speaking,
frowning as she did so. She hated to sound so serious, but
she knew that was the only way to get this across to them.
Usagi sat next to Mamoru on the bed, both of them
giving the senshi of time their fullest attention. He had
finally woken up after several hours, and it was now night.
During that time, Rei had taken care of explaining to Ikuko
where Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Chibi Chibi were, and everyone
else had ordered pizza. Makoto and Minako had rented some
movies, and now everyone was watching a movie in the living
room. Occasionally, laughter filtered through the walls.
"I know of your pasts. I know what happened to your
real father, the husband of Queen Serenity, Usagi," Setsuna
said. "I know your past, Mamoru, who you really are, where
you were born, the memories you lost on your sixth
birthday. These are all things you may one day regain."
"I know of your future, and of the next years lying
ahead of you. I know the hardships you will both face that
will be a test to your love." Setsuna's expression grew
gentle. "I also know, as do you two, that you were meant
to be together. Your love grows stronger every day, and
it's a force that no one will be able to penetrate in life
and death." Setsuna watched as Usagi's eyes grew misty, and
she laid her head on Mamoru's shoulder. He took hold of
her hand.
"There are different paths that people take in the
course of their lives. There is the intended way, which
doesn't cause any changes in the time warp, and then there
is the unexpected, which does cause changes. The Black
Moon, Hotaru's reawakening, Galaxia, this new enemy...they
are all unexpected things which has changed the time warp.
Yes, everything is pretty much as it should be now, but
that may soon change."
Setsuna stood, and gazed at the door. "You two took
the unexpected path when Usagi decided to postpone your
wedding, and go to college. I think overall, that was a
wise decision, Usagi, to further your education. I
realized your interaction with Chibi-Usa and what you do
know about yourself in the future is a strong motivation
behind your chosen path. It is something that will be of
use to you as queen. However, this does pose a problem."
She turned back to the couple. "I can not tell you
why, this is something you'll find out on your own. But, I
will tell you this. If you two do not get married soon,
there will be grave consequences, the first of which,
you're already experiencing. You both hold unique powers.
When combined, those powers can save the world. When the
holders of the Silver and Golden Crystals have matured
enough to wield their powers, then it is time for them to
unite."
Both of them stared at Setsuna in shock, and simply
nodded. The senshi of time smiled. "The next time the
moon is full will be in three weeks on October 15th. That
is the best time to be married. Do you think you will be
ready by then?"
Usagi and Mamoru nodded silently.
"Good." Setsuna turned to leave the room.
"Setsuna-san," Mamoru called out. She stopped and
glanced back, waiting for him to ask his question.
"Why did it take so long for me to gain control over
the Golden Crystal?" he asked.
Setsuna smiled. "Why, Mamoru-san, didn't you know
that girls mature faster than boys?" She left the room to
the sound of Usagi's laughter.
***********
"Nani?" Ikuko and Chibi-Usa screamed at Usagi and
Mamoru?s announcement. They, along with Shingo, sat on the
sofa in the Tsukino living room with Chibi Chibi sitting in
Ikuko?s lap. Ikuko's luggage stood near the door from
where she had just come back from Kobe about thirty mintues
before. Usagi and Mamoru, who had arrived at the house
shortly before Ikuko did, stood next to each other across
the room from them.
"Are you two nuts?" Shingo asked, knowing very well
the answer to his own question.
"Chibi!" Chibi Chibi clapped her hands. "Wedding!"
Usagi groaned at her family?s reaction. "Look,
believe me when I tell you that we're getting married three
weeks from Wednesday. We have to get married that day!"
Ikuko sprang up from her seat, and began to pace
the length of the room. She stopped suddenly, and turned to
face her daughter and her fiance. "Usagi-chan, are you
pregnant?"
"No!" Usagi and Mamoru both shouted at the same time,
then grew very red.
"Thank Kami," Chibi-Usa muttered. Both Usagi and
Mamoru shot a dirty look at their daughter.
"Just remember who you are," Usagi leaned close to
Chibi-Usa's ear. "And remember that there are ways of
preventing your birth." Chibi-Usa returned the dirty
look.
"Usako...," Mamoru said in a warning tone,
overhearing what Usagi had told their future daughter.
This time Usagi shot him the dirty look.
"What is so important about three weeks from
Wednesday?" Ikuko flipped a page over on the desk calendar.
"That?s October 15th."
"I don?t fully understand it myself, but Setsuna-san
said that was the day Mamo-chan and I had to get married."
Usagi explained.
"Setsuna-san?" Ikuko asked.
"Sailor Pluto. The senshi of time," Usagi said. She
had glossed over what each senshi was for when she
originally told Ikuko and Shingo about the Sailor Senshi a
year earlier. "She would know best."
"The 15th is also a full moon, Ikuko-san," Luna
explained, walking in the room with Artemis on her heels.
"The waxing and waning moons symbolizes hatred and unrest.
The new moon means death and destruction."
"The strongest power is from the full moon," Artemis
said. "It is good for visions of the future and for luck.
It is the time when Usagi-chan?s powers are at their peak."
"So what does them getting married this October 15th
have to do with anything?" Ikuko fretted. She sat back
down on the sofa and buried her head in her hands. "I
don?t get any of this. It?s been a year, but I still can?t
comprehend that my only daughter is Sailor Moon...is a
princess..."
"Momma," Usagi said, sitting down next to her mother
and putting her arms around her. She leaned her head on
her mother?s shoulder. "I?m still your daughter."
Ikuko patted Usagi?s arm and smiled. "Aishiteru,
Usagi-chan. Things will work out in the end."
"Ikuko-momma, I promise to take good care of Usako,"
Mamoru vowed.
"I know you will, Mamoru-san. Or else, Kenji would
had used his shotgun on you a long time ago," Ikuko winked
at him. "I just wished we had more time to plan a
wedding." Her gaze turned back to Luna. "Why this full
moon?"
"It?s hard to say," Luna said. "I?m not quite sure
if my hypothesis is correct or not about this full moon,
but if they are, it is imperative that Usagi-chan and
Mamoru-san marry that day. If not, then the future is
going to change."
Everyone stared at Luna in shock.
**********
Ami nodded to the professor she had been talking to
and bade him farewell. The young woman walked down the
hall and left the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard
University. She walked down Concord Avenue lost in her
thoughts about what the astronomy professor she had talked
to said about the nature of full moons and the signifigance
of the one to occur on October 15th.
Eventually, she found herself at the Cambridge
Common, one of her favorite places on campus. She walked
on a path in the common until she found some benches hidden
behind a cluster of bushes. Ami sat on one of the benches
and pushed the sleeve of her blouse up until her
communicator was revealed. She punched in a button and
after a moment Setsuna?s face appeared.
"I went looking for the information you told me to
find," Ami said.
"Good," Setsuna said. "Did you have any problems
explaining were you were for the past day?"
"No, Rachel covered for me," Ami said, admitting that
there was an advantage to having her roommate know about
her secret. "But, I did find out the information you
wanted to know. According to Dr. Torres, this is the full
moon that you were looking for."
"Okay," Setsuna said, keying in some information into
her computer. "It?s imperative that Usagi and Mamoru not
know why they have to get married that day."
"But, they have a right to know. Not even I fully
know what?s going to happen because of this," Ami said.
"You?re not suppose to," Setsuna said. "Trust me,
it?ll make the fun go away and I?ll be number one on the
list of the Universe?s Most Wanted. Being vague really
sucks at times, but I?m afraid it goes with the job."
Ami smiled. "I?m coming home on the 12th. I managed
to find a flight back to Tokyo. I?ll return on the 19th.
I?ve talked to my professors and they said I?m so far ahead
in my classes that I just need to e-mail in my
assignments."
"That?s good. Don?t use your Mercury Teleport for
this, it would cause too much suspicion," Setsuna said.
"Trust me, this all seems odd now, but everything will be
alright in the end. Trust me."
A small laugh escaped Ami?s lips. "Why do I feel
like I?m going to regret those works?" she said, then ended
the link with Setsuna.
**********
"I see. Well, arigato goizaimou." Usagi hung up the
phone and sighed. She turned around to see Minako and
Makoto gathered around a catalog and Rei scribbling down
notes on a sheet of paper. She walked back over to table
and sank down onto the cushion next to Rei.
Makoto looked up from the catalog. "What?s wrong?"
she asked.
"I?ve been calling every church in the area, but I
can?t find anything for October 15th," Usagi said, then
laid down on her back. She stared at the ceiling.
"There?s nothing available."
"Let me try," Rei said, getting up and taking the
phone off its base. She dialed a number and noticed the
others looking at her. She grinned sheepishly at them.
"One of my favorite teachers, Sister Michelle, is now a nun
at Saint Michael?s. She will make sure you two can be
married there."
"Arigato, Rei-chan!" Usagi said with a grin. She sat
back up just as the door to the room slid open. She stood
up as Mamoru entered the room and nodded to the other
senshi before motioning her to come to him. She ran over
to him and he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her
out the door. The others watched them leave. Rei turned
back to the phone.
The door nudged back open and Luna and Artemis walked
in with Diana following them. They sat on the cushion that
Usagi occupied.
Makoto sighed. "I don?t get all of the
mysteriousness behind this wedding," she said. "It?s like
the world is going to end if Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san
don?t get married on October 15th."
"Nah...the world isn?t gonna end. They just want to
do ?it? so badly that it?s why the wedding?s being held so
soon," Minako commented absently, still looking through the
catalog.
Makoto, Luna, and Artemis gasped at Minako. Diana
stared at her father. "Poppa, what is ?it??" she asked.
Artemis promptly fainted. Luna hung her head and
shook it sadly. "Diana, ask us in a thousand years," she
said.
Makoto snatched the catalog from Minako. "Minako-
chan, I can?t believe you would say such a thing!"
Minako sighed. "Well, I?m tired of hearing about
weird prophecies and Setsuna being so secretive. It?s like
she?s trying to force the timeline to work to her will.
Just let them marry when they want to! I don?t care
anyhow."
Makoto started to say something, but Minako jumped
up. "I don?t want to hear it," she said. "I?m going
home." She walked out of the room. Makoto stared after
her with a frown.
**********
Moreno stepped through the gates of the small
cemetary and headed over to two stones grouped under a
tree. He stared down at the stones of his former brother-
in-law and niece, shoving his hands in his overcoat
pockets.
"I thought for sure she would be here," he said
aloud. "Where could she be? She?s my imouto...I can not
afford to lose her."
His gaze turned to the sky. "Misora," he whispered.
"Where are you? Your life is in danger. But, if I ever
find you, I have to kill you...because my life is not my
own any longer."
From behind a nearby tree, a woman watch him. Her
long black hair hung in stringy clumps with dirt and twigs
strew threw them. Her dress was torn in several places,
dirt also streaking it. She simply watched Moreno, eyes
narrowing at his words.
"Onii-chan, you betray me," she whispered in a low
voice. "But, I will get you back. I will get you ALL back
for the pain you have done to me. Starting with you and
Hino Soun." Her eyes narrowed. "I will make sure you
never get to Sailor Moon."
**********
"I thought you were out looking at apartments," Usagi
commented. She and Mamoru walked down the street toward
his apartment. He had not said a word since leaving Hiwaka
Temple. She looked up into his eyes to find them distant,
as if his thoughts were concentrated elsewhere. But, the
way he squeezed her waist betrayed him, letting her know
that he needed her at this moment.
He still didn?t say anything, but came to a stop
outside of Osa-P. He looked in the window where Naru?s
mother was waiting on a customer. In the back of the
store, Naru sat in a chair reading a book. Usagi started
to knock on the window, but Mamoru stopped her, taking her
hand in his free one.
"Is something wrong?" Usagi asked, but he simply
stared at the hand he held. It was her left hand, the one
with her engagement ring on it. He rubbed her hand
delicately, especially the ring.
She sensed he was having a hard time trying to tell
her how he felt. It was something she had picked up on
over the years. Some people took his silence to be
coldheartedness, but she learned it was because he could
not always vocalize what he felt because of the way he had
grown up.
They turned toward each other, their bond
communicating what words couldn?t. Since Mamoru had
obtained the Golden Crystal, they could feel their bond
growing stronger. His ability to sense Usagi?s dreams had
proven that.
"We?ve come full circle, haven?t we?" Usagi
whispered. "This is where it all began five years ago. I
came out of Osa-P and threw a test paper behind me and it
hit you. Then, that night, we saved the store from Jadeite
and the youma he sent."
He still didn?t say anything, just leaned toward her.
She closed her eyes and met his lips, kissing him
passionately. Younger people passing them whistled
appreciatively while older people avoided their eyes. One
woman passed by, muttering how it wasn?t appropriate for
young people to make a public spectacle like that. Still,
Usagi and Mamoru ignored them all, lost in their own world.
As they kissed, a figure appeared on the sidewalk in
the distance. As it approached, people could see it looked
like a man. A very familiar man to some of the college-
aged people who remembered seeing his face plastered on
every available billboard just three years earlier. He
approached the kissing couple and stopped before them, an
odd smile on his face.
"Yo, Odango!" the man said, cheerfully. "I?m back!"
Mamoru instantly broke off the kiss to glare at the
man, but the glare instantly dissolved in a look of shock.
Usagi turned around, her cheeks flaming red. Her jaw
dropped when she saw who the man was who had spoken to her.
"Seiya!"
TO BE CONTINUED....IN EPISODE 13